Brief Meeting and Dialogue Between the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on the Sidelines of the Istanbul Summit

Iranian media reported that the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia embraced and had a brief conversation on Tuesday, August 1, during the Executive Committee meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul. The Islamic Republic of Iran's news agency announced that Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, approached Mohammad Javad Zarif and after embracing him, they engaged in dialogue. The Iranian foreign minister considered this action by his Saudi counterpart as 'normal and a movement in diplomatic etiquette' and added, 'The reason for this was both mutual respect and the long-standing friendship I had with Jubeir.' Diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh have been severed since January 2016 following the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia and the attack on the diplomatic missions of that country in Tehran and Mashhad. After Donald Trump's visit to Riyadh, the verbal confrontations between the two countries increased. Prior to this, discussions between officials of the two countries at some international meetings had led to disputes. For instance, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, reported on November 1, 2015, that at a Syria crisis meeting, the foreign ministers of the two countries had a dispute. Iran and Saudi Arabia accuse each other of interfering in their internal affairs and the region, an accusation that is denied by the other side. Last month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two Saudi fishing vessels with their Indian sailors. Previously, Saudi border guards fired at three Iranian fishing boats and arrested three other crew members of those boats. Additionally, the newspaper 'Al-Riyadh' reported on July 4 about the arrest of three Iranians on charges of intending to carry out 'terrorist operations at the Grand Mosque in Mecca,' but Iranian officials dismissed this report as 'fabrication.' Despite these conflicts, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, announced on June 18 that there was a preliminary agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia to visit their embassies, while stating that there is still 'no direct negotiation' between the two countries and essential issues are resolved 'through diplomatic channels and indirectly.' However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Iranian officials had not granted visas to its investigative team to examine the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad. In response, Bahram Qasemi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, called this statement 'unrealistic' and stated that the visa for the Saudi delegation to visit their diplomatic sites had been issued a month earlier. He added, 'The special flight permit for the mentioned delegation was issued in the shortest time and this delegation was supposed to arrive in Tehran on August 1, but they requested to postpone the trip for necessary preparations.' Previously, there were reports about the possibility of mediation by countries such as China and Iraq between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Iranian officials also held discussions with Kuwait and Oman in the last months of the previous year. These discussions followed the visit of the Kuwaiti foreign minister to Tehran and the exchange of some messages between the parties. The conflicts in Syria and Yemen have been among the most important reasons for the deterioration of relations between the two countries in recent years. Iran supports the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, while Saudi Arabia is one of the main supporters of a group of rebels in that country. In Yemen, the situation is reversed, as the Arab coalition led by Riyadh has carried out airstrikes against Houthi rebels to restore power to Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, while Iranian officials have supported the Houthi rebels and have been repeatedly accused of 'sending weapons' to them.